Anti-money laundering system

bovrilnotmarmite

We are currently trying to buy a house despite the fact out solicitor uses the Infotrack eCos system which requires an app on a smartphone. My first comment is use a different solicitor because the Infotrack eCos is so badly designed, buggy and unreliable. It also discriminates against elderly and less techno aware and drives those with techno experience mad! 

My experience is that software so badly designed and implemented is easy to breach. Look at Jaguar Land Rover who still cannot get into their system. 

The other weakness of such a centralised system is that it is a hackers dream since it requires your up to date bank account details , birth certificates, marriage certificates, passport, driving licence and pension fund details - perfect for identity fraud e.g. a fraudster could impersonate you, take your house, money and pension fund and also sell your car and clone it and take out loans and startup companies using your name and credit record!
Who thought of having an online anti money laundering system with centralised collection of data in private hands?
If ever there was a system that needs rethinking it is the anti money laundering system.

theartfullodger

Did you have a question please??

Who chose this esteemed solicitor for you and checked how they would work??

If so unhappy with your solicitors systems did you then consider engaging a different solicitor to handle matter, please?

born_again

bovrilnotmarmite said:

We are currently trying to buy a house despite the fact out solicitor uses the Infotrack eCos system which requires an app on a smartphone. My first comment is use a different solicitor because the Infotrack eCos is so badly designed, buggy and unreliable. It also discriminates against elderly and less techno aware and drives those with techno experience mad! 

My experience is that software so badly designed and implemented is easy to breach. Look at Jaguar Land Rover who still cannot get into their system. 

The other weakness of such a centralised system is that it is a hackers dream since it requires your up to date bank account details , birth certificates, marriage certificates, passport, driving licence and pension fund details - perfect for identity fraud e.g. a fraudster could impersonate you, take your house, money and pension fund and also sell your car and clone it and take out loans and startup companies using your name and credit record!
Who thought of having an online anti money laundering system with centralised collection of data in private hands?
If ever there was a system that needs rethinking it is the anti money laundering system.

What makes you think that the software is not safe?

There are far more software systems that are safe than the few that got hacked, & most of the hacks are due to human error or a 3rd party breech.

Flugelhorn

I think our solicitor used this for ID and address verification all we had were our passports and a couple of letters - nothing financial

singhini

Any solicitor (whether digital or paper-based) has to collect the same sensitive documents as part of anti-money-laundering rules. The risk of identity theft doesn’t suddenly appear because a system is online; people can have their identity stolen through lost post, stolen laptops/phones, hacked emails, or even documents left in a car.

The solicitor isn’t the only one using systems like this either, it’s pretty standard now across the industry, and thousands of people use them safely every day.

If your phone or laptop were ever stolen, the same kind of identity fraud you’re worried about would still be possible.

EssexHebridean

An awful lot of the professional indemnity insurers are now demanding that the online systems be used for the AML checks - so the solicitors may well not have a choice either about doing it or about who they use. You can of course decline to use the system, but they may then have no option but to decline to act for you.